Why Stress Induces More Food Intake

The present research in the stress-induced eating field overemphasized the role of negative emotions.However,this paper investigated the mediating roles of two cognitive variables in the stress-eating relationship and the underlying moderators as well to shed more light on stress-induced eating.This paper hypothesized locus of control and core self-evaluation would mediate the effect of stress on food intake,while intolerance of uncertainty,resilience and negative reinforcement eating expectancy would moderate the influence of stress on food intake.This paper examined the proposed moderated serial mediation model of stressinduced eating through 8 experiments.In Study 1,this paper manipulated stress level and found that stress only increased the intake of the sweet,high-fat food,but not changed the intake of the no sweet,lowfat food.The results of Study 1 gave an initial picture on how stress influenced food intake.In Study 2,this paper manipulated stress level again,and found locus of control partially mediated the effect of stress on food intake.Thus,locus of control might be a mediator in the stress-eating relationship.In Study 3,this paper manipulated the level of locus of control,and found core self-evaluation fully mediated the effect of locus of control on food intake.Therefore,core self-evaluation might be another mediator in the stress-eating relationship.In Study 4,this paper manipulated stress level to explore the mediating effect of locus of control and core self-evaluation meantime.The results indicated that stress would first influence locus of control,then core self-evaluation,and finally had an effect on food intake.Therefore,this paper found a serial mediation model of stress-induced eating form the cognitive perspective.Next,this paper investigated some potential risky factors or protective factors,which would moderated the serial mediation relationship between stress and food intake.In Study 5,this paper manipulated the level of stress and intolerance of uncertainty,and found that low intolerance of uncertainty lessened the negative effect of stress on locus of control.In Study 6,this paper manipulated the level of locus of control and resilience,and found that high resilience extenuated the prospective effect of locus of control on core self-evaluation.In Study 7,this paper manipulated the level of core self-evaluation and negative reinforcement eating expectancy,and found that low negative reinforcement expectancy alleviated the negative effect of core self-evaluation on food intake.Hence,this paper found 3 moderators which could weaken the unfavorable effect of stress on food intake.In Study 8,this paper examined the entire moderated serial mediation model,which composed 2 mediators and 3 moderators.The entire model was supported by the data.Overall,this paper uncovered a moderated serial mediation model to explain how and when stress would increase food intake.